Planners reject 'field of dreams' in rural Midland

MURFREESBORO — A man who built a youth baseball field for tournaments in his rural Midland community failed to persuade county planners to support his request Monday night.

After several neighbors and Rutherford County Commissioner Pettus Read spoke against the rezoning request during a 2 1/2-hour public hearing, the county's Regional Planning Commission voted 10-0 to recommend against Scott Findlay's baseball field plans.

"It was his field of dreams, but it didn't have the cornfield around it and it wasn't located in Iowa," Read said during a Tuesday morning phone interview. "The neighbors' homes that are located around it is their field of dreams. Just as he wanted kids, the neighbors wanted their backyards and patios, and didn't want to be overlooking a baseball field."

Findlay's baseball field request at 6885 Williams Road on the far south end of the county is next scheduled for another public hearing April 14 before the County Commission, which has final authority on rezoning for land use. The County Commission is scheduled to start the meeting at 6 p.m., with the public hearing to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor courtroom of the County Courthouse on the Square in Murfreesboro.

Findlay declined to comment for this story. He has representation from land planner Clyde Rountree with Huddleston-Steele Engineering in Murfreesboro.

Rountree said during a Tuesday phone interview that he's not sure whether Findlay plans to continue pursuit for a planned unit development rezoning approval for his ballfield.

"We're trying to assess what’s the best thing for Scott at this point," Rountree said. "We want to do what's best for Mr. Findlay and his family."

Findlay's primary goal for his field was to serve the needs of children aged 6 to 8 competing in monthly weekend tournaments for six teams eight times per year, Rountree added.

"He has a first-class facility," said Rountree, who noted that a couple of people did speak in favor of Findlay's plan during the Public Hearing at the County Courthouse. "Scott has a real passion for baseball. I think he's good at what he does in helping the kids. It's just the neighbors don't feel like it's the right location. The fact that people are coming is what is creating the challenge. There's a need for those kind of facilities."

Findlay has a Show Me Athletics Facebook page to promote his baseball training services.

Findlay's youth baseball field exists at a time when officials on the City Council in fast-growing Murfreesboro hope to build a west side park in part because there's a lack of new fields for baseball and softball since Barfield-Crescent Park opened in 2000 on the south side on Veterans Parkway near South Church Street.

Before building the ballfield, Findlay had obtained approval for a baseball training building in 2014 from the Rutherford County Board of Zoning Approval.

After hearing complaints from neighbors, County Planning Director Doug Demosi said during a Tuesday interview at the Planning and Engineering Department that his staff will examine whether the BZA should consider rescinding the board's previous approval.

When it comes to the outdoor field, Demosi recommends against approval.

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Doug Demosi(Photo: DNJ file photo)

"My primary concern was that it wasn't going to be compatible with the area," Demosi said.

Had Findlay built an outdoor field that was strictly for his family and friends, he probably would not have needed a permit, Demosi said.

The planning director said he's also worried about whether Findlay's 9 acres have enough land for parking and that people might end up parking on the side of the two-lane rural road.

Williams Road has no shoulders, said Read, whose County Commission district includes the Midland area where the field was built.

Read said if firefighters with the Fosterville-Midland Fire Department needed to respond to an emergency while tournament traffic was blocking Williams Road it could be a problem.

"That’s just a standard rural road with a number of curves, and there are homes all around it," Read said.

Findlay built a baseball field that replicates a Little League World Series field in Williamsport, Pa., with artificial turf and berms (landscaped hills) that offer a grassy place to sit beyond the outfield, Read said.

"If he had 50 acres out there, it might work, but not just in rural backyards," said Read, who worries that 150 people coming in for monthly Saturday and Sunday tournaments eight times per year would be hard on the nearby neighbors living in a rural subdivision. "Figure in parking and traffic and restrooms and trash, it just doesn't work."

Planning Commissioner Mike Kusch during a Tuesday morning phone interview also took issue with Findlay for building the field before seeking approval for the plans and doing so without a land disturbance permit.

Mike Kusch(Photo: Submitted)

"I have no sympathy or tolerance toward people that break the rules and don’t follow regulations," said Kusch, who also is one of the elected officials on the County Commission.

County Engineer Mike Hughes agreed that people should obtain permits before building.

"I want to see some plan and a land disturbance permit before you start moving dirt," Hughes said during an interview from his office Tuesday.

The county must make sure that state laws are being followed when it comes to erosion, water not being trapped or that neighbors down stream are not being harmed, Hughes added.

Reach Scott Broden at 615-278-5158 and on Twitter @ScottBroden.

What's next

The Rutherford County Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing about Scott Findlay's rezoning request for a youth baseball field with monthly tournaments during a meeting that starts at 6 p.m. April 14 in the second-floor courtroom of the County Courthouse in the center of the Square in Murfreesboro.